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The guild is growing and evolving much faster than our initial expectations, and we are on track to meet every single one of the goals outlined in our previousState of the Guild address. We set out this tier to eliminate random PUGs (we still love our cross-realm friends) from our raid team and focus on Normal-mode progression. In less than a month, we have successfully capped a full 30-man raid and are already working on the tier’s ultimate boss.Needless to say, we have come a long way. Our success has elevated our team to a new level which will require additional dedication and newpriorities. The following address will outline our goals for the first quarter of 2015 and the remainder of Highamaul. Most of these items have been coming down the pipeline for awhile and will not come as a surprise to those who have been keeping up with theGuild News Feed.If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions after digesting this address, please comment on this post or speak with an officer directly, and we will be more than happy to elaborate upon our logic.PREVIOUS GOALSIn our last State of the Guild, we set several goals that we hoped to accomplish by January 31, 2015. I am proud to say that we have accomplished these goals an entire month ahead of schedule (a month typically plagued by holiday chaos). As I mentioned in our opening comments, we have already far exceeded our progression and recruitment goals. With the addition of the members from Paradigm, our roster is overflowing with raiding interest. I am still humbled at how well our team has meshed and continues to grow together despite less than a month of acclimation time. I truly believe we have achieved something unique within the greater Warcraft community, and I want to thank each and every one of you for your commitment, generosity, and incredible attitude.Moreover, our final goal for Highmaul was to create a culture that worships mechanics over meters, and I believe this has (for the most part) been accomplished. This is not to say that damage and healing do not make a difference; they do! And quite frankly there are probably a few raiders who need to re-evaluate their rotations and spell priorities. But in my ten years of raid leading experience, I have come to realize that meters simply go up with raid awareness. When players understand mechanics to such an incredible degree that the mechanics become second nature to perform, then the raider will have the freedom to focus for their rotations. We are already seeing early signs of this theory beginning to surface. Tuesday (12/30), we had the best DPS all tier and only seven deaths for the entire evening!Congratulations are certainly in order. However, in the wake of our accomplishments and celebrations, it is also essential to set new goals to maintain our trajectory.NEW GOALSLooking forward, there is still much to accomplish. Imperator Mar’gok still awaits us in Highmaul alongside a long list of Heroic bosses which we will continue to work through until the release of Blackrock Foundry in mid February.HighmaulOur primary goal will remain killing bosses. However, if there is time during and after our Heroic progression, we would love to work on the Meta Achievement for the Gorestrider Gronnling. I want to emphasize that this is a secondary priority to Imperator Mar’gok normal and our heroic progression, but if we have the time, It would be an incredible feat for which to strive.RosterTuesday (12/30), we successfully completed our first guild-only raid (no PUGs). Many of you who have been raiding with Zug since the beginning of Highmaul have already seen many of the perks of a standardized guild team. Invites are going out more quickly; we are consistently starting on-time; we rarely need to repeat boss explanations; and the experience, gear, and lessons from previous nights are reapplied to our future progression. In short, we are progressing faster and wwith great people!To maintain this atmosphere, we have set a goal of 30 Gladiators by February 1. To date, we have awarded seventeen (17) Gladiator promotions, so this should not be an outrageous reach. For those who have not yet earned your promotion, you may be worried about a raid spot. That’s understandable. But remember that there is no official cap to Gladiators. The rank is intended to be for part-time raiders to fill-in when their schedule permits. Those interested in a guaranteed raid invite should consider applying for the rank of Kor’Kron.Guild Bank Open to GladiatorsBeginning January 15, the Guild Bank will open to all Gladiators with contents reserved solely for the purposes of raiding. Our goal is to provide all raiders with the flasks, feasts, and potions necessary to raid through our combined donations. Moreover, the officers are seeking a trustworthy, exceptionally well-organized raider to keep these tabs arranged and supplied. This person(s) will need to be able to craft nearly all raiding gems, potions, flasks, and enchants. Moreover, he or she will inform the guild of needed donations at each raid. Contact Barotar if you are interested. We deeply appreciate the help!POLICY CHANGESThe following items outline recent changes and new initiatives that affect the guild and/or raid team.New Rank: Kor’KronAs promised, the rank of Kor’Kron will be making its appearance in January, 2015. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the rank, the Kor’Kron are the elite guard of the Warchief of the Horde. In House of Zug, this rank is reserved for raiders who are willing to commit to attending at least 85% of raids. Moreover, if a Kor’Kron cannot attend a raid, he or she must inform an officer before raid time. We depend on our Kor’Kron as the backbone of the raid team to ensure a strong and balanced raid team. In exchange for their commitment to our team, Kor’Kron are awarded a permanent raid invite (before Gladiators). Information and requirements for this rank will become available in mid-to-late January.Item Level Requirements LiftedAs we progress through new content, the baseline point of entry must also raise accordingly. Over the next month, we will be raising the requirements for Gladiator by ten item level. Effective January 15 all Gladiators must have obtained item level 635 or higher to maintain their rank. This minimum requirement will again rise to item level 640 on February 1. These are still incredibly low requirements, so I do not imagine that anyone will have difficulty achieving these benchmarks.Transition to EP/GP Loot SystemPersonal loot is a terrible system that frequently awards gear that players do not want or need. However, in a cross-realm, PUG environment, a raid leader’s primary objective is to avoid loot debates and drama; therefore, House of Zug has resorted to this faulty system as the lesser of two evils. However, as our reliance on PUGs dwindles, new and better options for loot distribution appear.Beginning January 15, House of Zug will be transitioning to an EP/GP loot system. In all my years of raid leading, I have never found a loot distribution method more fair, hassle free, and quick than EP/GP. To this day, I have not had a single complaint about its distribution (although it may take a little effort to initially understand).There will be a comprehensive post in the first week of January which will explain the system and its numerous advantages. Moreover, I will be hosting a Q&A at the next raid to follow this EP/GP cast—just in case there are any additional questions. I assure you this transition will be smooth and transparent. I know how crazy we all get when raid leaders mess with dem purplz!For those of you who just cannot wait, you can check out information on this system here.Damage Specialization RequirementBeginning January 15, all raiders will be required to maintain a damage specialization for their mains (in addition or as your primary role). Yes, this unfortunately does mean that you cannot have a tank/healer hybrid or a holy/disc priest. This is a policy that has worked very well in the past because it is ultimately very fair. Let me explain…As a flexible team which allows players the opportunity to schedule raiding around their busy lives, we often run into the problem of role imbalance. Hopefully, this doesn’t seem like a problem for you (the raider) because that means that the officers are doing our jobs correctly. Role imbalance occurs when the ideal ratios of tanks, healers, and dps are severely skewed (imaginge a 5-man with 3 healers, 2 dps, and no tank). Role imbalance can greatly hinder a raid’s chances for success.The easiest way to fix role imbalance is asking a hybrid (a class that can perform multiple roles) to change his or her specialization (e.g. a healer becomes a dps). However, if our hybrids can only perform one role, then we are left with a horrible decision: do we hinder our chances for success by accepting a role imbalance? Or do we drop players? Dropping players is never fun! Deciding who to drop is certain to cause drama, and House of Zug prides itself on allowing as many players as possible to attend our raids.Moreover, it is also unfair to continually force the same hybrid players to play their secondary specialization because the other hybrids have not come prepared with one of their own. Why should the most prepared player be continually punished?As such, House of Zug will be implementing a raiding policy. As of January 15, all healers and tanks must now prepare an optimized and practiced secondary damage specialization. Yes, this means flasks and potions too.I will be the first to admit that giving up my restoration specialization was sad, but I truly believe this is the most fair and reasonable solution available.Limited Tank PositionsUnfortunately, regardless of the raid size, Blizzard has seen fit to only allow two tanks per fight. As such, House of Zug only has room for two primary tanks and two backup tanks. So far, I have received Gladiator requests from three tanks, but I know more of you have tank off-specs. If you are interested in a tank position, you may contact Barotar for the current status.Proving Grounds AlternativeEffective immediately, players may now link performance logs (such as Ask Mr. Robotor Warcraft Logs) in lieu of completing their Proving Grounds: Gold achievement. It has come to my attention that some classes (especially the Elemental Shaman) require a skill level on par with heroic or mythic raiding execution, which is far beyond the goal of the requirement. I still believe that in most cases for most classes, Proving Grounds do effectively parallel nor mal and heroic-mode raid progression; however, I also recognize that for some classes, it is especially difficult.Choosing to upload logs does not guarantee you a promotion and takes longer than linking an achievement. An officer will evaluate your logs and make an assessment as to your current skill level. If there are areas that require improvement, we will help you set goals to earn your promotion. Either way, you will receive extensive and specific feedback. Moreover, if you do not have logs, just PM an officer, and we will setup a time to record logs for you during farm progression. The raiding section has already been updated with this new information.New HotS ChannelMany of you are already enjoying early access to Heroes of the Storm. Although Blizzard has not officially introduced clan support, House of Zug has created its own in-game chat channel help network with other players and share in glorious battle! Feel free to add friends and family, but remember that our guild’scommunication policy is in effect for all users. To join, simply type “/join HoZ” in the chat window next time you are in game. See you in the Nexus!REMINDERSThe following are policies or events already outlined on the website but that require special consideration at this time.Random AFKsWe take breaks as a team. Please try to eliminate AFKs in the middle of our raids. If you anticipate needing a break, please whisper the raid leader to request one at the next opportune moment. Moreover, when we take breaks, arrive back before the timer ready to continue.Calendar SignupsWe invite through the in-game calendar. If you have not signed up for the raid, you may be overlooked for an invitation. Please show Crusade respect by updating your calendars with your shifting availability. Please make sure to update your tentative status at least 24 hours before the raid.Watch What You SayWe all play it a little fast-and-loose with our language sometimes. House of Zug is a friends and family guild and as such we request that you keep your language and the content of your conversations in public channels (such as Vent, guild chat, GroupMe, forums) to a PG rating. Yes, this means you will need to censor your language and allusions to drug usage and sexual acts. Moreover, any variation of “gay” or “rape” commentary (even when intended as a joke or unrelated slang) is considered hate speech and will not be tolerated in this guild. I promise you that I am as guilty as the next person for letting gamer vernacular affect my vocabulary, but if everyone is holding each other accountable, we can end this toxic behavior.Download GroupMeHouse of Zug uses a mobile chat app called GroupMe to stay connected on-the-go. You can visit the Mobile App section on our website to learn more.---Thank you for being such a great community!As always, you can contact myself or Crusade with your questions, comments, or concerns.Happy New Year!Barotar